Yale Study: A Pregnant Mom's Diet Affects Baby's Future

A recent study conducted by researchers at Yale School of Medicine and the University of Cologne asserts that children of obese mothers, consuming a high-fat diet during pregnancy, are more likely to face weight problems, and related metabolic disorders, in the future. Conducted on mice, the study shows that a mother's food intake, particualrly in the third trimester, affects the baby's metabolism.

According to a press release: (Researchers) found that mouse mothers fed a high-fat diet during breastfeeding had offspring with abnormal neuronal connections in the hypothalamus, as well as altered insulin signaling in this brain circuit. As a result, the offspring remained overweight and had abnormalties in glucose metabolism throughout life....the study helps identify the key point in pregnancy when maternal nutrition has the most impact on an offspring’s metabolic health....the findings suggest that the third trimester of pregnancy in humans is the most critical period. That’s when a mother’s diet will most likely have long-lasting effects on her offspring’s health, according to the researchers.